A gritty tale of how far we’ll go to protect the ones we
love for fans of Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone from
Gale Massey, a talented new name in crime fiction.

Everyone says the Elders family are nothing but cheats,
thieves, and convicts—a fact nineteen-year old Jamie Elders
has been trying desperately to escape. She may have the
natural talent of a poker savant, but her dreams of going
pro and getting the hell out of the tiny town of Blind
River, New York are going nowhere fast. Especially once she
lands in a huge pile of debt to her uncle Loyal.

At Loyal’s beck and call until her debt is repaid, Jamie
can’t easily walk away—not with her younger brother Toby
left at his mercy. So when Loyal demands Jamie’s help
cleaning up a mess late one night, she has no choice but to
agree. But disposing of a dead man and covering up his
connection to the town’s most powerful judge goes beyond
family duty. When it comes out that the victim was a beloved
athlete and Loyal pins the murder on Toby, only Jamie can
save him. But with a dogged detective on her trail and her
own future at stake, she’ll have to decide: embrace her
inner criminal, or defy it—and face the consequences.